Scroll of the Hearts
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: Frontier Post-DW. Their present trip is very different to the past. The world they left behind has faded into history and so have the powers that kept them safe…save some scraps that remain. Those though, seem to be causing more harm than good, and new powers ask a hefty price.
1. A Knight on a Journey

**A/N: **Anyone remember The Price One Must Pay? This is actually inspired from that, and also me reading a heap of post DW fics that involved the warriors going back to the Digital World. The prices though (the ones mentioned in the summary) aren't necessarily the same and will, as this is a lengthy fic, take longer to manifest themselves. They also may not wind up being as well defined, as this isn't a fic based on definition.

This is also my Camp NaNo fic. My goal is to write 20,000 words, and I've done over 10,000 now so I'm on track for once. So expect...probably another three chapters before it goes into dormant, provided real life doesn't get in the way.

* * *

**Scroll of the Hearts  
**_a new quest beyond the boundaries of dimension and form_

**Chapter 1  
A Knight on a Journey**

The knight journeyed out with a blade of courage in a scabbard of humility on his hip, a shield of love borne upon his right arm for protection while the unfeeling gauntlet that coated his left hand gripped the reins. His boots, sturdy and befit a dragon rider, sat comfortably atop the lowermost hem of his form-fitting armour, the armour itself being a modest earth-red colour and rippling at the touch of the wind. The sound was similar to a flute being expertly played, and the knight parted his own lips to partake in the merry song before he came upon the battlefield –

And then the music stopped, and Takuya blinked, finding to his embarrassment he was not riding out on any sort of quest but rather in music class awaiting his test..and on the receiving end of quite a few glares for not watching his classmates. Kouichi had just finished his own presentation with the flute and looked equally embarrassed, the calm serenity of his playing being shattered by loud applause.

Still blushing, the boy slid into his sit in the corner of the classroom, giving Takuya at the end of the row a small wave as the brunet abandoned his own seat and withdrew his flute from its casing.

Takuya took a deep breath, and began to play. The melody sat upon his lips; his lungs seemed lost in the symphony of their own – which was odd, as he had been dreading this test for a good reason; his aptitude at any sort of music was questionable at the best and ear-shattering at worst. Literally, as he distinctly remembered making both Junpei's and Kouichi's ears bleed on two separate occasions when he'd first started on the flute in school soon after returning from the Digital World.

Now, almost two years later, he was almost as bad as he had been without the practice – on most occasions. A noticeable exception was his current playing; for once it seemed he knew exactly how much air to blow, as if he'd been playing this song his entire life. He wasn't even looking at the paper –

'Kanbara-kun,' the teacher interrupted. 'As relieved as we are not to have sore ears, the idea of this test is to play the music in front of you.'

Takuya blinked at the paper on its stand as if it was a foreign language. In a way it was, hence why Kouichi had taken to it like a bee takes to honey despite having not studied the flute in his owne elementary school and started the year Shibuya Junior High four weeks behind after an unexpected but necessary move brought him and his mother to Shibuya.

Granted, the destination hadn't been necessary, but in the light of the family reunion it did seem like the only option. The reason they had to move though could not be avoided; it was simply pure luck both of them had been in far safer places when the earthquake had struck. Schools, hospitals and the likes were relatively fine, but the more mundane buildings hadn't been given the same attention when designing and building the infrastructure and therefore quite literally crumbled in the pressure.

The loss of a home and items within it however did, in a sense, seem worth the fact that Kouichi was now a lot closer to his friends. And it wasn't as though the building had flooded badly…like some of the others in the area, so the Kimuras had been able to salvage quite a lot. But even then, some things were irreplaceable. Like the last remaining digivice in their world, crushed under a slab of fallen roof.

'Kanbara-kun.'

His teacher sounded vaguely annoyed now, and Takuya pulled his flute from his mouth before realising he had been unconsciously playing again.

'Ah, gomen Sensei,' he said, staring at the wood oddly before returning his attention to the music he was supposed to be reciting. It was an unknown piece; they each had to play a different one. The tests weren't as easily as elementary school when they had a week's notice, and to top it off the symbols were a lot harder to recognise as well.

He took a deep breath, carefully read the first line, and blew gently –

– then winced at the piercing sound that came out, an octave higher than his intention. A few boys at the front covered their ears as well, snickering…not that their tests earlier had gone any better.

A third of the way down the page, the teacher interrupted him again, and he realised that his solo's smoothing was the result of him switching back to whatever tune he had been playing before than him finally getting the hang of how hard to blow and for what duration. The rest of the test was about as jerky as his constant instrument, and by the time he finished and sat down the teacher had a pained look on her face.

Her bun was also a little loose, but no-one was paying attention to that.

Takuya retook his seat, looking at the two notes sitting innocently on his desk. One was from Kouichi; his doodles were unmistakable…probably because no-one else drew quite like him. Concrete drawings were all good and proper – there were a few people in the class who could manage that – but Kouichi was the only one who, given a pen, could make nonsense look interesting and, at times, beautiful.

The other note was from one of the boys in the front row. He opened that one first, knowing that while this one may not necessitate a reply, Kouichi's would. As it turned out, a reply was not needed, as the boy was saying he couldn't help but laugh at the switching tracks, and if he felt insulted to feel free and get his due revenge at the track meet that afternoon.

He laughed quietly at that, then in the midst of amateur music opened Kouichi's note…before blinking at the single sentence…or question.

Sadly, he didn't know what he had been playing any better than Kouichi did…or the teacher, as he found when she kept him back after the recitals were completed and the rest of the class was dismissed. But the question reminded him of the story he had been thinking bout; he didn't remember reading it before, but he had read precious few books. In any case, it seemed more the material for a good action-packed video game…except he didn't remember coming across a knight who looked quite like that one did. And really, who named articles and weapons like that?

He figured he'd ask Kouichi later; that guy was obsessed as ever with fiction. "Ever" was a relative term though, considering they only knew each other for two years of the thirteen he'd been alive. Nearly fourteen, as the summer holidays were almost upon them, as well as the twins' birthdays.

Which reminded him: he would need to go shopping for presents before the weather brought Tokyo to a grinding halt. He grimaced at the very thought, and spent the rest of the period alternating between gift ideas, each as bad as the next, and making plans to fill up his summer holidays. If it was as boring as the previous one, he was liable to – do something crazy. Sadly, that's what it was summing up to be, even with camp and his friends to hang out with. They were good and all, but it seemed somehow unsatisfying and dull after fighting for their lives in the Digital World.

_I wish I could go back…_

The sun shone through the unmasked window, tickling the tips of his hair.

* * *

'How did your recital go?' Kouji asked curiously.

Takuya groaned. He would have buried his head into his hands if they weren't currently holding his lunch. 'Why do you ask?' he grumbled. 'You know exactly how it went.'

'Badly?' the ex-warrior of light guessed, a small smile on his lips.

'I don't have the luxury of years of lessons,' Takuya said.

'And how many times do I have to tell you those lessons were for guitar, _not_ flute.' Kouji rolled his eyes. 'Just face it; you have no music talent.'

'Not true,' Takuya shot. 'I was playing perfectly fine today.'

Kouji raised an eyebrow at the brunet. 'Didn't you just say your test went badly?'

'Well…the test went badly, but I was playing something else and that sounded fine.'

The eyebrow was raised higher. 'Let me get this straight,' Kouji said slowly. 'You were playing some tune you've never heard of or read before perfectly, but you couldn't get the one you were supposed to be playing straight after reading it off the paper?'

'No!' Takuya shook his head, a little exasperated with his friend's dimwittedness. 'I _have_ heard it before; I just can't remember where!' He paused, before adding: 'And you better not roll your eyes again.'

Kouji obliged, though he looked duly disgruntled. 'Stop giving me good cause.'

Takuya huffed. 'I can't help it; that daydream was the most interesting thing that's happened all week…'

'And just what has that got to do with you playing a flute correctly for the first time in your life?'

The brunet opened his mouth to answer and stopped, jaw slacking slightly. He actually didn't know. He thought a little, about the strange knight and his assortment of gear and their stranger names. He'd been humming something – or it had sounded like that anyway – but it hadn't seemed natural enough to play without an instrument at one's fingertips and Kouichi _had_ been doing his own – and far better – recital at that time…if only because the teacher decided to have pity on the last member of their roll and shuffle the names up into a random order.

'You don't know.' Koji sighed. 'Sometimes talking to you scrambles my brain.'

'Hmmph.' Takuya stuffed some rice into his mouth. 'Still, if that had been the song I was supposed to be playing, I would have aced the test.'

Kouji didn't look particularly interested in that. 'How did Ni-san's recital go?'

'Uhh…'

'You weren't paying attention,' the younger twin deadpanned. 'I guess it doesn't matter; you couldn't tell an A+ performance from a mediocre one either.' He chewed slowly on a roll. 'Why does Ni-san's insist on spending his lunch time in the library?'

'Apparently the reading group's a weird one.' Takuya shrugged. 'You'd know better, wouldn't you?'

Kouji spared him a glance. 'That was a rhetorical question.'

'Whatever.' Takuya turned his attention back to his lunch, turning his thoughts back to that strange knight he had been daydreaming about. He wondered where the knight was going; a quest perhaps. Something exciting. Dangerous too…but he seemed well protected. Maybe it would be like the Digital World…

Something hit him on the head, and Takuya glared at the lid that had landed innocently on his lap.

'Would you pay attention?' Kouji said, annoyed.

'I _am_,' Takuya mumbled, rubbing his head as he handed the lid back.

'Then what did I just say?' The raven-haired male crossed his arms.

'Don't go sounding like a teacher,' Takuya grumbled when he couldn't recall.

Kouji didn't even bother looking smug. Takuya zoned out of conversations and the likes almost as much as Kouichi did…except with more dramatic results. Kouichi after all had the spirit of the king of cats – or queen as they sometimes teased him – and enough grace to avoid collisions with lampposts and trees and cracks in the sidewalk even when he wasn't paying full attention. Takuya was the opposite, walking into things even when he was looking straight at them. It made the others wonder how their hot-headed leader had not been the one to fall down a flight of stairs…although they could all understand how certain things could defy even the best of grace.

'I said,' he repeated patiently…or as patiently as his words ever sounded, which wasn't much compared to most others. 'We're meeting outside Izumi's school at five. Her track meet, remember?'

'Uhh…sure.' He might be a little scatterbrained, but no-body could forget after the blonde had drilled it into their heads, on her toes since she found out that that the district-wide competition would be held at her school's oval. It was a little odd actually, as her junior high school stemmed from the private girls only elementary, however the co-ed school that had been planning to host wound up with some trouble and were forced to pull out. Since then, Izumi had reminded her friends at every available opportunity, making certain they would be present to cheer her on. The only person who wouldn't be disappointed – as repetition dragged for all people – was Junpei, although he was out of luck as frazzled nerves had failed to make an appearance for him to smooth. Then again, Izumi had been in many track meets since she'd returned from the Digital World, and she'd placed at the top in all of them. 'How could I?'

'Are you sure?' Kouji asked uncertainly.

'Of course.' It was Takuya's turn to roll his eyes. 'You think anyone could forget with the way Izumi went on about that meet.'

'It's a big deal for her,' Kouji pointed out. 'If she wins here, she'll get to go to Nationals.'

'I know.' Takuya sighed. 'And I know I'll be up there cheering for her, but it's a bit grating hearing about it so often. I can't help but wish something would happen.'

Contrary to the brunet's expectations, Kouji nodded in understanding. 'I know what you mean,' he said. 'There's a lot of things I didn't mind before that I can't stand now.'

'Like your guitar lessons?' Takuya teased, relieved for the break and the opportunity for some subtle revenge.

'Yes, exactly like those.'

* * *

Takuya stopped for a drink at the water fountain before heading indoors, almost walking right into Kouichi who was apparently waiting for someone…or something.

'Hey,' the brunet said, plastering a grin on his face; his initial one had melted off in the sudden blast of lunchtime heat. 'We missed you at lunch.'

Kouichi smiled back, shielding his eyes from the sun and the reflecting fountain. 'Reading club,' he explained.

'Really, you should get involved in something more…involved,' Takuya said. 'Something like…'

'Soccer club?' Kouichi asked.

'Yeah, or track like Izumi. You're a fast runner.' Takuya tended off towards his locker and Kouichi followed. 'Or soccer; you're a good goal-keeper and our current one lets every second ball in.'

'I don't feel much like playing a sport outside of what we have to,' Kouichi replied.

'I don't see how anyone could rather be inside on such a hot day.'

'Air-conditioning?'

Takuya had to admit the elder twin had got him there. Still, he took things entirely too seriously; the brunet was convinced it wasn't healthy.

'Still, you should exercise your body too, you know. And have some fun.'

'I like reading,' Kouichi returned, leaving out the fact that his apartment was far enough for the walk to and from school to be plenty of exercise…even if he wasn't running late (and he hadn't yet…although six weeks weren't enough to start generalising).

'I only read enough to get through school.' Takuya shook his head of hair. 'It takes so long. My eyes wander off…' He suddenly remembered what he had meant to ask the other. 'Have you heard of a story of a knight?'

'A knight?' Kouichi repeated.

Sensing the other wanted more detail, Takuya obliged. 'He had a blade of courage that was in a scabbard of humility, and a shield of love on his right arm and this really hard gauntlet on his left –'

'Apathy,' Kouichi said thoughtfully.

'So you have heard of it?' Takuya asked.

He was a little put out when Kouichi shook his head. 'I just thought of apathy, because courage and humility are in a way antitheses of each other.'

'How do you mean?' Takuya said.

'Well, courage can lead to overconfidence.' Kouichi gave the once warrior of flame a sidelong glance. 'Or pride, and humility is the opposite of pride.'

'Oh.' Takuya thought for a moment. 'Why apathy though?'

'Well, love causes pain, can't it? So apathy would be the opposite of that.'

'Makes sense I suppose.' It didn't really, but Takuya was inclined to take Kouichi's word for it. 'Except love doesn't always cause pain.'

Kouichi didn't comment, though if Takuya had looked at the other's face he would know he disagreed. 'Why do you ask?' he said instead.

'Oh.' The brunet blushed. 'I kind of daydreamed during your recital, and I remembered that story…except I don't remember ever reading it before. It's definitely not one of my video games though.' He paused for a moment, before remembering another tidbit of information. 'Oh yeah, he was humming too.' He laughed sheepishly. 'I guess I was paying attention after all. Sort of hypnotic.'

'It was rather upbeat,' the other responded quietly.

'Whoops.' Takuya laughed sheepishly. 'I suppose it's the weather that makes me so sleepy then.'

Kouichi just shook his head; he was starting to lose the thread of conversation.

'But really, I was thinking about it later, and for some reason the music reminded me of mice.' Takuya threw his arms into the air. 'Mice. I mean, really.'

'Mice,' the other deadpanned.

'Don't do that,' the brunet said immediately. 'You sound like Kouji.'

'Mmm,' Kouichi answered non-committally, his mind of something else. 'Remind me what book you're doing your literature report on.'

'The Pied Piper of –' Takuya broke of. 'Oh.' He swatted the other on the shoulder as a small grin escaped. 'Really, you could have just told me.'

'And miss the fun of teasing you?' the other shot, parting ways to go to his own locker...sadly tucked in a corner because of his late enrolment.

'You and Kouji,' Takuya grumbled. 'I swear, whoever came up with the idea of double-trouble – oh.' He quickly hailed the other before he escaped out of earshot. 'Are you coming with us or meeting is there?'

Kouichi turned. 'Going where?'

Takuya goggled at him. 'Izumi's track meet!' he exclaimed. 'How in the world did you forget?'

'I think I did forget,' Kouichi said slowly, blinking.

Takuya continued to gape. 'She's been going on about it since she found out. Anyway, five at the gates of her school.'

'I guess I'll be meeting you there then.' Kouichi shook his head lightly. 'I can't believe I –'

' – you forgot,' Takuya finished. 'Go figure. But don't tell me you double booked yourself.'

'No, I just need to finish a few chapters and then return my book. It's from the downtown library and it's due today.'

'A few chapters.' The brunet's tone was almost weak, even before the rest of the statement caught up to him. 'Just how many books did you borrow that time, if you've still got…tell me it's just the one?'

'It is,' Kouichi confirmed, sounding faintly amused. 'And you know, I can't remember how many books it was.'

'Of course you can't,' Takuya mumbled, turning away again. 'You remain one of the weirdest people I've ever met.'

Kouichi didn't know how to reply to that either.

'Hang on…'

Kouichi turned back again.

'How'd you know to wait for me anyway? I'm hardly ever on time.'

'I saw you by the fountain,' Kouichi replied.

'From…' Takuya flexed one hand, and then the other. 'Geeze, you must have really been looking. How come?'

Kouichi shrugged.

'Found a crush or something?'

'Don't start sounding like Junpei.'

'Says the guy Junpei _doesn't_ tease about nonexistent crushes.'

Kouichi wasn't sure "teasing" was the right word, but he didn't say that out loud. He didn't fancy the conversation that was sure to follow in any case, so he simply let the thought to mull in his head with the rest of their current conversation.

* * *

It wasn't that Kouichi went out of his way to be different; on the contrary he had once, for a time, done the opposite. But that was before the Digital World. Now he liked to think of it as more defining himself…even though the person least fooled with that idea would be himself. Because the truth was that some wall still existed between him and the wall, and transparent as it was, he seemed incapable of knocking it down. Often, he'd find emotions rising to his skin or words to his lips only to fade before speaking them, and against someone like Takuya who always spoke his mind, himself not realising at times the effort the things he said without formulated words…well, it always became more prominent.

He wondered if Takuya ever realised half of what he managed to convey in a conversation. For unlike Takuya, the story about the queer knight was perhaps the last thing on Kouichi's mind…except for the fact that it gave off the restlessness that the brunet felt with not only the summer but the world in general. And he wasn't the only one, because Kouichi could see his brother hosting a similar sort of restlessness: there was a guitar in his room he never played anymore, even though he could play it very well. Their father mentioned offhand once that there was a time the younger twin could not be found away from it, and now it would take a day's cleaning to rid it of the dust that clung to the once polished finish. Not regular dust; it was dusted as much as anything else, but the dust that came from disuse.

That made him think of the precious cargo he carried, but art classes was about the worst place he could think to look at it. The bits of glass, plastic and broken wires could easily be mistaken with the miscellaneous debris on the tables and the floors…and as it was, he doubted he had managed to collect the entirety of his D-scanners from the ruins of their old apartment. He wouldn't be surprised if some of the ceiling that had crushed it was wrapped up with the device itself…but still, it was too important for him to throw out.

Most people didn't know it existed, much less he carried it with him still, so he received no comments on its' behalf. Other things though had been quick to attract attention when he had arrived at a new school four weeks into the semester. It was lucky he had known Kouji and Takuya – and even wound up in Takuya's class – as he would have been horrendously lost otherwise and perhaps also gotten the short end of whatever introductory stick the seventh graders carried. Being good friends with two of the most popular guys (and the twin brother of one of them) in the year level brought along benefits though so he managed to avoid any preliminary trouble – even if, to be perfectly honest with himself, he wasn't too thrilled to be stuck behind another shadow. He didn't have much of a choice. The downside to that however was that it put the spotlight on him more times than he liked, and therefore others figured out things that wouldn't normally come to light within six weeks.

Like he was quite good at school, as he had easily been able to adjust to the slightly different curriculum and the week he had missed between moving and getting himself (or themselves rather) resorted. And that he liked reading…which was how he had wound up in the reading club. It was compulsory after all to be enrolled in at least one club activity, and while he wasn't a bad soccer player or long distance runner or jumper by any means, he had simply not felt like doing any of that.

It was almost funny, that some of the students managed to label him as "dark" right off the bat. But, if anything, they left him alone for the most part. "Alone" though simply meant no-one went out of their way to cause too much trouble – and Kouichi couldn't help but find himself wishing at times he could find an antagonist to…well, antagonise, if only so something could develop further. He felt like he was still trapped somewhere…although boredom was the last thing on his mind. His mind was occupied with other things.

His fingers were occupied with other things too, picking up things seemingly at random and trying to put them into some semblance. The project was easy enough, for all the difficulties everyone around him seemed to be having. Just put things together and create a diorama , something they would be able to write two hundred words on in their sketchbook later…excluding the explanations of what they used and why. At the moment though, Kouichi hadn't locked – or stuck – anything in; he'd instead let his mind wander to its content as he put things at random together, looking for a medium that simply seemed to fit.

His eyes fell on thin wires and began twisting them into shapes. A little cat, dog, hatching dragon, mole, larva and chick. It took a lot longer to make more filled counterparts: the lion, the wolf, the adult dragon, the bear, the beetle and the bird.

Speaking of birds, he wondered how he had managed to forget about Izumi's race. And for some reason, he spent the rest of the lesson thinking she wasn't going to come away from that meet happy.

* * *

Kouichi readjusted his backpack before continuing his small struggle through the crowd. The meet had attracted quite a bit of attention; it was a big deal after all, especially since Shinjuku was usually known more for its lights than its action. It was really more a place for adults than children…but then again, Shibuya was pretty low key and not much of a place for kids to get their daily excitement from either.

Neither was Minami, really. It was interesting, how the world seemed more tailored towards adulthood than childhood and adolescence.

But the track meet was different; it was something that attracted Tokyo's younger population. And that made it harder to spot those he was looking for, as in a sea of mostly brown and black haired people, everyone looked the same.

Eventually, he managed to crash (figuratively) into Junpei, and navigation became far easier after that.

'You're still hopeless with crowds,' the older brunet laughed, waiting until the other caught up before ploughing along. 'The others are at the gate.'

'"Gate" is quite vague,' Kouichi returned, rather relieved now that he wasn't drowned. 'Or quite large in this case.'

'True enough, but voila.' He waved a hand, and another waved back. A pale and slender one, revealing itself to be Izumi's as the group came into view.

'What took you guys?' she shouted over the noise. 'I'm going over soon!'

The two boys wished her luck and she took them before departing.

'She doesn't look nervous,' Junpei remarked, eyeing her form on the tracks. 'I'd be jelly right about now.'

They laughed a bit, Tomoki most of all. 'My heart's pounding,' he confessed. 'And I'm not even running.'

Kouji on the other hand was frowning a little. 'I hope she's not overconfident,' he said.

Kouichi gave him a sidelong glance; it was comforting to know it wasn't his mind alone the thought had crossed.

'Are you saying Izumi can't handle the competition?' Takuya asked with a grin. 'If I were in her shoes, I'd have every reason to be overconfident with this lot. She holds the district record, and she's the Warrior of Wind. There's no beating that.'

'That's what I'm afraid of.'

'Izumi going easy on someone?' The tone was sceptical; apparently the two best friends were not on the same wavelength.

Kouji sighed. 'I'm just concerned that she might think the competition is too easy and not do her best.'

'Do you think she could lose like that?' Tomoki asked, a little worried. 'She would be so disappointed…'

'Probably,' Kouji said, the same time his brother said: 'Not necessarily.'

The twins looked at each other again; the others looked between them.

'Why do you say?' Kouji asked finally.

'Well…' Kouichi said, wishing he had simply kept the thought to himself. 'I was just wondering how much a victory would be work if she didn't have to work for it.'

'Maybe.' Takuya shrugged; he didn't seem so concerned. 'A win is a win, and she'll move on to something bigger. In the end, it won't matter, because in higher competition there'll definitely be a challenge and that's what she's aiming for, right?'

Kouichi thought for a moment, then half-smiled. 'You've got a point there,' he admitted. 'I guess I wasn't looking at the bigger picture.'

Satisfied with that victory, the brunet rounded on the younger twin. 'And you should have more confidence in Izumi.'

'Alright, alright.'

The preliminary whistle sent them scrambling for a better view of the track. They saw Izumi sprint off, taking an early lead as the others straggled behind. Takuya yelled for a bit and fell silent, before yelling again; the transition was so fast those of the group who did see it wondered if they weren't simply hallucinating. Tomoki was bouncing up and down; he'd grown a bit since his adventures but he was still shorter than the others, and Junpei was clapping and shouting at regular intervals. The twins clapped too once the blonde crossed the finish line ahead of the herd, but they saw the look of frustration on her face when she turned back to look at the rest of the competitors, and again when the times were announced.

It seemed Kouichi had been right after all, but it was frustrating that things he was right about, like that, were things he couldn't take pleasure in. Nobody brought his comment up again – which he was grateful for – but he wished he hadn't said it in the first place.

* * *

Izumi fished around in her bag for a towel before wiping her face. Her hair clung to her forehead and neck, making the hot day and the expenditure from the run seem even more tolling.

Quite frankly, she was disappointed. With an opportunity to go to National competition, she had been appropriately psyched however the competition itself had appeared almost threadbare. She knew her friends were cheering for her in the crowd; there had been moments where she could swear she heard Takuya's and Junpei's voices attempting to drown each other's out, but in most cases the crowd swallowed that as well. She could see the others – she knew they were all there – but she couldn't hear them at all.

Really, she should have tried her best, and not only for them. Except it felt like she _had_ tried her best. A very disappointing best though; she was nowhere near her set record despite the gap between herself and the one who took second place. She should be getting better with time, not worse, but even as she wiped the sweat away she felt that she hadn't pushed herself to her limits as she once had.

Why? she wondered. Wasn't the feeling of her hair sailing behind her and the wind spurring her legs enough to excite her? Or was she missing something else?

A few congratulators came, and she accepted them with a lukewarm and tired smile; whether she had run herself ragged on the tracks or not was irrelevant in that she was feeling rather tired in the aftermath. Still, her team wasn't about to let her get away that easily, and before she could catch up to the others they had dragged her away for, in their opinion, a "well deserved" celebration.

Not that she didn't love pizza and garlic sauce. But she felt a little weary, as though she was lying to herself about something, pushing herself to do something she didn't particularly enjoy.

Which was odd, because she did enjoy running. And competing.

But she couldn't shake off the disappointment she felt. Sure, she'd obtained her ticket to larger competition, where she would run with and against the best of their country. But she had to wonder if it was as important to her as those initial meets she had partook in, or if it had developed into something…else.

In the end, she pleaded tiredness and left the restaurant early, walking slowly home under the still bright sky. Offhandedly, she thought of how it would be twilight in a few months by this time…not that it really mattered, for despite Shinjuku's reputation the path between her home and school was safe enough. In fact, it was probably safer than Shibuya where the boys stayed, for Shinjuku was always lively, even at night. So while a midnight brawl wouldn't be anything unusual, it would be far more difficult to try and attack a lone figure in a swaying crowd.

So as expected, she made it home with no difficulties, waved a greeting at her parents who had come home ahead of her, and hopped straight into the shower. Despite it being summer, she turned the faucet as hot as she could manage without pruning herself within the minute, and enjoyed the warm water cascading down her shoulders and back and tickling her stomach.

She closed her eyes and let the river wash the wind away. A sad thought, she reflected later as she lay in bed, listening to the night's song through the open window and watching the large moon smile down upon the earth in an almost mocking way. There were a few stars though, but none of them flashed and disappeared; she hadn't seen a shooting star since her time in the Digital world, she realised.

She wondered what she should wish for if she saw one.


	2. A Place to Return

**A/N: ** This was one of those baby-steps chapters. Writing wise as well as plot wise. Go figure (though that wasn't a good thing with Camp NaNo).

* * *

**Scroll of the Hearts  
**_a new quest beyond the boundaries of dimension and form_

**Chapter 2  
A Place to Return**

'We should celebrate your victory,' Takuya said suddenly.

'Isn't it a bit late?' Izumi asked, a little sceptically. She was well familiar with how Takuya's "celebrations" turned out, and while it was lively, she wasn't sure she was up for it. One night's sleep apparently wasn't enough to charge her batteries.

'You're the one who ran off with your team,' the other responded. 'We looked for you for ages, you know.'

He was right, although team celebrations were hardly that and always tended to wind her up more afterwards. Often she found herself biting her tongue (quite literally) to stop herself from snapping at her teammates, before memories arouse wherein she would never have hesitated, and driven the said teammates away from her in the process.

'What are you thinking about?' Tomoki asked.

'Just old stuff I guess.' Izumi shook her head, before looking over at Takuya. 'Well, what were you thinking of?'

'Nothing in particular.' He looked as though he was thinking hard about something. 'Something exciting I suppose; nothing interesting's happened since the Digital World.'

'Speak for yourself,' Kouji shot at him, glancing at his brother who didn't seem to react one way or another to the statement. Out of all of them though, it was probably Kouichi whose life had changed the most since the Digital World.

On the other hand, Kouji's had, despite meeting his mother, finally found a sense of normalcy. His father had been promoted and moved to a desk job, a feat that made his entire family happy as not only had both Satomi and Kouji grown tired of moving (the latter more than the former) but Kouji was in no ways ready to leave his newfound friends, brother and mother behind. As fate would have it though, instead of him leaving them, Kouichi and his mother wound up moving closer.

When Kouichi noticed the other twin looking at him, he spoke up. 'The new amusement park's opened up,' he said.

'Oh yeah.' Tomoki looked rather excited at the topic. 'It looks really cool too; we drove past it the day before yesterday, and they've got an opening sale as well.'

'Well, my pocket's glad to hear that,' Junpei laughed. 'I just brought a new book on magic tricks, and between that and my mum's birthday last week, I don't have much saved up.'

'What sort of amusement park?' Takuya asked, wondering why he hadn't heard about it.

Kouichi shrugged. 'I don't know; it was just on one of the newspapers 'kaa-san used when we were painting.'

* * *

Although they had mixed reactions about another amusement park – for there were a fair few of them around Japan nowadays – they were all happy enough to hang out for the better part of a day. It immediately fell on the Sunday, the one day of the week where they had an entire day out of school, and with next to little debate it was agreed to meet at Kouichi's apartment.

Actually, they'd chosen his apartment because only Kouji had seen it fully fixed and furnished, although all of them had learnt enough tact over their lifetimes to not say that out loud. Not that it really made a difference where they met up; it was simply easier to meet at someone's home as opposed to a bustop or a gate, as it was much to easy to lose people in the crowd otherwise.

They'd also, as per usual, agreed to split their common list of supplies as they called it, and Junpei found he had somehow landed the snacks. All in all, he reflected as he searched the shelves of the local grocery, it wasn't a bad straw. After all, he was short on money and while he would be able to cover the games, he was glad it wasn't his turn to buy the entry tickets. And he knew how to cook, so it would be an improvement from the chips, lollies and popcorn Takuya had brought the last time. And although it was Izumi and Kouichi who could cook the best (depending on what it was that was being cooked of course), he didn't think he'd have too much trouble getting the chocolate chip cookies made.

Actually, he reflected as he found the chocolate he was after and headed for the cashier, he was somewhat glad they were rarely perfect. While it was annoying to try and figure out what it was he had mis-measured, it kept him on his toes, trying to work out old mistakes and making new ones in the process. While it was nothing as monumental as the Digital World, it was certainly a more organised process and it allowed him to think of various other things in the meantime.

He wouldn't take being a cook as a long-time profession though. While he realised he wouldn't have to stand in line for his ingredients, he simply didn't see himself in the white apron and tall fluffy hat. Also, it seemed like a minor accomplishment to resign his entire adult life too; while it was fine when studying and growing up, he wanted to feel like he'd done something by the time he was forced to resign to a wheelchair for old age. It was also largely a waste of his studies; while he doubted he'd ever use Japanese history to any real advantage unless he became a history teacher (and he had absolutely no intention of doing such a thing), he hoped to at least utilise the effort that went into science and maths further than counting penny change and paying utility bills.

One day, while making a batch of chocolate chip cookies ironically, the idea of becoming a chemist struck him. It was relatively similar to cooking, and it would require a great deal of concentration to get the measurements exactly right if previous experience was any indication (and that was the only batch that had come out to perfection), and there would be enough chemistry, biology and mathematics involved to utilise his high school knowledge. There would even be some opportunity for research and invention; the only downside was that the blueprints he had come up with over the years would largely go to waste. Even the dexterity that he picked up with his magic tricks were well supported.

The current cookies were still at the ingredient stage, as after the chocolate chips were taken home, he was off again for baking paper – which the small store didn't sell. This time it was by bike instead of foot, something he found himself enjoying more and more as time flew by. Sometimes, it seemed he couldn't get too much time to himself to enjoy the quiet world…and to think that before the Digital World, he would have given his entire chocolate and magic trick collection for a real friend.

* * *

Tomoki was glad Kouichi had brought up the idea of the new amusement park, because he loved going to them. Granted, he was getting older like everyone else around him, but it was one of those things he hung on to from his childhood. His parents had stopped treating him like he was six, and he and his brother got along far better, however if he was to be completely honest with himself, the ex-warrior of ice was far from being fully independent.

Like he wasn't working a casual job like his friends often had that summer holidays; except for Kouichi, whose mother hadn't been particularly well off and had needed the assistance, it was the first time the others had been earning money from anyone but their parents (and that was for simple chores around the house). And to be honest, he hadn't really thought about doing the same.

Games however he had no problems with, even if his older brother sometimes teased him about getting too old for some of them. Still, Yutaka had agreed to show Tomoki some basics in animation and – once he was more proficient with computers than he currently was – how to do some simple programming. After all, he'd written his first programme when he was sixteen, and Tomoki's love for games made him an ideal candidate for game designing.

Except he couldn't help but wonder if his brother was right and he would one day lose interest in his juvenile hobby. But the present was much closer than a future so far off, so he didn't worry about it too much. In the present at least it seemed a very slim chance, and so there was little problem in enjoying the same things he enjoyed in his youth. Technically, he was still a youth after all.

And if he was going to pick the first rides of the day, then he was going to pick the best ones. Even if that meant digging through the pile of old newspapers his father stacked beside the couch because his brother was busy with the computer (his laptop was at the repair shop).

Finally, he came upon the advertisement Kouichi had mentioned, and skimmed over their list of attractions and specials. There were water attractions: they would be a good starting point. Never a good idea after lunch. They had ice skating too; Izumi and Kouji were pretty good with that, and Takuya wasn't too hot with ice so it'd keep him busy. He wasn't sure about Junpei or Kouichi, now that he thought about it; he didn't remember ever bringing the subject up with them.

He continued pouring over the advertisement. There were a few regulars, like the Haunted House, that could be visited if they looked interesting but certainly not by way of planning. Then there was a virtual world which might be a nice visit a little later in the day. Granted though, they had all experienced the Digital World, and it would be hard beating that. What would be nice though would be travelling through the virtual world with the knowledge that their lives, and everything else of theirs, were perfectly safe.

He marked the advertisement and continued reading.

* * *

Kouji sighed as Hikaru bawled him over the moment he unlocked the door. Ever since they had gotten him from the animal shelter as a puppy, he'd jump the moment he spotted the boy he had bonded with at first sight, and Kouji had long since give up on trying to dodge or scold the dog. It wasn't as though it hurt as he generally landed flat on his back in the grass or on the carpet, but it was a little exasperating.

'Up,' he commanded firmly, and Hikaru snarled at him. He repeated the command, and the now adult dog glumly slunk back indoors.

He followed, locking the door behind him when the traditional 'Taidama' went unanswered, telling him his father and stepmother weren't home.

It was a bit of a surprise, until he checked the cupboards for a snack before squeezing some studying in before dinner, and found them mostly bare. That explained Satomi's absence, as she was usually home to welcome him from school and whatever extra-curricular and social activity he was occupied with. And whenever it wasn't one of those two, he was hanging out with one or more of his friends and, more as of late, his brother.

His father of course was always working late, but Kouji found himself more appreciating of that now. Ironically, he worked less hours than before, wherein he would sometimes find himself coming home to a silent house after the babysitter had put the stubborn child to bed and Kouji had surrendered to sleep.

It was much noisier when he came home at more Godly times, with Hikaru barking at the door and normally something or other clattering about the house, be that Satomi in the kitchen or the TV blaring in the living room or Kouji getting detached from his homework upstairs. But they all preferred things that way, and so there were little complaints. Granted, there were occasions where Kouji was trying hard to study something and Hikaru wouldn't leave him alone, or when Kousei came home nursing a headache and the TV was on too loud, but they were few. And much improved from the sullen silence the house had previously suffered.

The most important think, Kouji thought as he dropped onto the couch with the dry biscuits and Hikaru slunk over his lap, was that it was home. And it was almost unthinkable how easily he had thought to leave it, that trip to the Digital World.

He still remembered the feel of that wind on his face, during the first night, but only as something different than the wind of the real world. Initially he had thought the Digital World was a purer place, a better one. But he had been wrong, for they were different but the same. Like the real world had its troubles, the Digital World had too – something he had learnt all too well when travelling about. Small commonplace scuffles, like the Mushmon and the Floramon, and Cherubimon with the other two Great Angels. Larger ones like Lucemon trying to absorb the world – but it wasn't like power hungry maniacs were any different when they were human. And children always got caught in the crossfire.

Except they, in the Digital World, weren't children but adults, something that Kouji found was a very valuable lesson when coming back to the real world and stemming into adolescence. In a sense he had matured, his ideals becoming grey as opposed to purely black and white – and that's what they had been, deep down. That's where the anger had come from, the frustration, the inability to accept.

Just because Satomi had not given birth to him, she could never be his mother.

In truth, it was simply he who had not given her a chance. Whoever said there could be only one mother in life? It was the Digital World, once again, which had taught him that. And companionship as a whole as well, to curb his rigid ideals into something more malleable.

Truly, it didn't stop the epic clashes between the past warriors of light and flame that managed to exasperate even the most patient of bystanders, but it was oft done in jest and for no other reason, although sometimes – or more than that – fuelled by nitpricking irritation.

Granted, one did not notice the tightness of their shoes until after they had stopped running.

Hikaru shifted about during the other's reminiscence, and eventually drifted off into sleep upon his lap, and Kouji looked down and berated himself for the hindsight. While the dishes could wait – and the homework too – he had been planning on calling his brother. The cordless phone was however smirking from the wall…too far away to reach.

His mobile was in his back pocket, but it took a bit of squirming and manoeuvring to work it out.

Kouichi picked it up on the second try, the first going unanswered.

* * *

Kouichi heard the phone ring, however he'd been busy sanding a new doorframe and by he time he was reasonably certain he wouldn't leave a trail of dust behind him, the rings had reached their limit and ceased.

He had turned around to return to the frame when the phone rang again, and when he picked it up to find Kouji on the other line, he could have hit himself on the head for not realising sooner. After all, not many people had their new number, and anyone ringing his mother would – or rather, should – know she was still at work.

'Hey Kouji,' he said, a little tiredly. Now that one of his hands was free, his joints were feeling somewhat flimsy. Apparently, he had lost track of time on the doorframe, and no-one who heard was going to be too pleased about that.

Granted, only his mother would realise, when she arrived home and found the frame smoother than she had been expecting, but he couldn't really help it. It was simply too easy to lose oneself in the repetitive scraping motion, even if the fingers would protest later on.

Rather, it was difficult to remember at the time that they would protest, as only at the very edge of their ropes did they give an immediate response. And he'd wrapped his fingers before using the scalpel to avoid blisters; he'd partaken in enough art classes to know that little trick.

Sure, he had never went to cram school or tuition like his brother – or even the others, who went at least once a week. They were expensive, and while the additional study certainly wouldn't have hurt his grades, he could manage well enough with a B+/A- average. Particularly since most people in the area couldn't really afford the additional tutelage.

Minami had been, at least when they lived there, more than a simple working class district. It was a place, unlike Tokyo by enlarge and even Kyoto (despite being a part of its prefecture), that took in and supported those people that society otherwise shunned for little reason. Single parents for example. Divorcees. Orphans. Couples that weren't accepted in the social standards of society. He'd had quite a hard time before they had moved; no-one seemed to think a single mother was capable of working respectably and raising a perfectly well-bred son. He wasn't the sort to immediately lash out in anger though…but the Digital World had shown him how devastating the alternative was.

It just made him more aware. Ultimately, it didn't change the fundamentals, although he felt his adventure in the Digital World had been, in a sense, short-routed. He'd been cheated out of the quest to gain his spirits; they'd been handed to him. And as soon as they were purified, it was racing from one location to another to try and save the Digital World's data from being scanned. And the knowledge that it all had occurred during a time span of ten minutes for which he had been comatose and, quite literally, on the brink of death, really didn't help put things into perspective.

In fact, if it weren't for the D-scanner and his friends, he'd often wonder whether or not it were a dream. Hence how he'd forgotten his brother normally called after a healthy time span, letting them both get comfortably home and accomplish something.

Even if that something was simply lazing about, as Kouji was just answering to his question.

'And you?' the younger twin asked.

'Sanding the new doorframes,' Kouichi admitted, leaving out his lethargic fingers. ''kaa-san's got Tuesday off work so she wants to paint them and the window frames.'

'Not the front door, right?' He could almost hear his brother frowning over the phone, trying to remember the layout and what needed fixing as opposed to what had already been fixed.

The two combined made quite a sum; there was a reason after all why the apartment had come cheap. The old owners apparently had chosen to sell the place instead of renovate it. Once owned by the government, it was now theirs, unlike the one they had previously rented, and therefore it was well worth the investment.

Still, the time they had so far spent wasn't enough to think of it entirely as home.

'Ni-san?'

Kouichi sighed and shook his head; he really had to stop his mind from wandering off. 'Sorry,' he apologised. 'I was just thinking.' He added hurriedly, before the other could comment: 'What was your question?'

'The door frames,' Kouji repeated, sounding half amused and half concerned. 'Not the front door?'

'No, that one was fine.'

A relief too, otherwise neither of them would have been able to sleep with the door removed.

'We could have called Takuya,' Kouji pointed out, as if reading the other's mind…or predicting their actions should things have been different. 'I'm sure he could have come up with some good bogey-traps. Or Shinya.'

'True, but I would have probably tripped them up after forgetting where they were,' Kouichi said, remembering the time the brunet had bogey-trapped the Haunted House their class had set up for a festival. Granted, he hadn't been present as he hadn't been a student at that time, but Junpei had taken his video camera and he'd seen the play-by-play.

'You probably would have,' Kouji admitted. 'Between your clumsiness and scatterbrainness.'

'That's not even a word,' the elder twin sighed, having long ago given up trying to counteract his brother's teasing. And truthfully, he was clumsy, though he was also quite graceful in his own right. Cat-like, his mother laughed whenever he tripped over the carpet edge and managed to keep his balance without looking utterly ridiculous.

Scatterbrained, on the other hand…

'Actually, you're not really scatterbrained,' Kouji said thoughtfully. 'More like you've got your head in the clouds. Or are they the same thing?'

'Definitely not the same thing,' Kouichi replied. 'But a lot of people use them interchangeably.'

'Name one then?' There was the sound of something shifting.

'Excuse me?'

'Name someone who's scatterbrained,' Kouji clarified.

'That's an odd question.' The entire conversation had skewered off slightly from the norm. And it was getting a little awkward; true, it was between brothers, and he did have an idea of an answer, but he wasn't nearly as comfortable in the teasing department as Kouji, and even Takuya, were. On that note, he was on par with Junpei, who still received an elbow from Izumi every now and then for his frankness.

'Oh, just answer the question.'

'Takuya,' Kouichi admitted finally.

'Takuya,' Kouji repeated, before bursting into laughter. 'The crazier version then, but you need to loosen up.'

'About what?' the other frowned slightly at the phone. It wasn't as if anything in particular was bothering him.

There was a sound from the other end, something Kouichi couldn't really discern from the growl Hikaru gave. 'It's alright to tease your friends,' Kouji said thereafter.

'I think me teasing Takuya would be very different from you teasing him,' Kouichi pointed out, wincing as he flexed his fingers and found stiffness settling in. 'I think I better get back to sanding.'

'You better not,' Kouji shot back, knowing full well his brother would wind up – if he hadn't already – overworking himself. 'I'll tell 'kaa-san if you do.'

Kouichi bit back the retort that rose to his lips.

'I heard that.' The voice was scolding. 'Now what was it?'

'You said you heard it.' It was a weak excuse, and they both knew it.

'_Ni-san!_'

'Well…um…'

'Don't think I'm letting this go,' Kouji warned. 'And don't even try the diversion tactic,' he added as an afterthought.

'Not even 'kaa-san co – walking in?'

'Somehow, I don't think you would have asked that if she had just walked in,' Kouji responded dryly, missing the slip, though he did catch the sigh of relief. 'What was that?'

'Nothing,' Kouichi said, sounding suspiciously like he had in Ofanimon's library. 'I was just – well – I mean, you could – but it would have been…well…_babyish_.'

He got the feeling his brother was blinking at the receiver. 'Did you just call me a baby?'

'No! I just – it's your fault anyhow!'

'True,' Kouji assented. 'You sure you weren't thinking evil or something?' He sounded rather amused, but there was a slight undertone that told Kouichi he had pinched at his younger twin's pride.

'Kouji –' He began, before being cut off.

'You sure you weren't thinking "evil" or something?'

'I'm sure.' Kouichi sighed again. Kouji was not going to let this go.

'Or –'

'Kouji, I do know what I'm thinking.'

'All right,' the other assented.

'Now, is there a reason you're so persistent? Since I'm not wandering the Digital World as a spirit in this case and all…'

* * *

Kouji considered his brother's question. 'I don't know,' he confessed finally. 'I just sat here for Hikaru since we got back from the park and I've done nothing, and I don't know why that either. It's not a bad feeling though; it's not like I'm bored or anything.'

'Maybe you're just comfortable,' Kouichi suggested after a moment's thought. 'You know the saying: "you don't feel the tightness of your boots until you stop running". Or something like that anyway; I don't think that's the correct wording.'

Kouji thought about it. 'So you're saying that since everything's been going right in my life lately, I'm picking up on some tiny little annoyance in yours?'

'Something like that,' Kouichi replied, sounding relieved. Kouji wasn't sure whether or not that was because he was spared elaborating, but decided not to question it. He didn't want his brother annoyed with him after all, and it was bound to happen if he pestered too much.

'You'll tell me if something's bothering you, right?' It came out a little uncertain.

'Like my fingers?' Kouichi asked, amused.

'Hence why I told you not to sand any more.' Kouji shook his head. Sometimes the people he conversed with shook gears too fast. Izumi, Takuya…and even Kouichi on occasion. 'Must you guys always twist words. What's wrong with a nice straight conversation?'

Hikaru barked his assent, even if he could only hear half the dialogue.

'It gets boring?' Kouichi offered after a pause.

'Don't go turning into Takuya,' was all Kouji said in response.

They made a little more small-talk and hung up, Hikaru immediately trekking off to the kitchen.

'Oh, now you're hungry,' Kouji grumbled lightly, sitting up. 'I swear you've got a plan of some sort buried in that head of yours.'

Hikaru woofed his agreement.

* * *

Junpei was surprised to find his first batch of cookies perfectly presentable…and, after a tentative nibble, edible. The others were about as good, which left him with a minor problem. Usually, the first one wasn't really worthy of giving to others; they were fine to enjoy by himself, but things always had to look and taste a little better when making it for others.

So he'd made enough cookies for about ten people instead of six, and that was after taking into consideration Izumi's appetite (not that he would ever say that to her face; he well remembered what she had done to Takuya when he had, and Kouji had counted him lucky she'd never heard his comment).

Well, he thought after a brief moment of eying the pile, he _was_ heading over to Kouishiro's for dinner and a school project. He had enough for their family, and it was good manners to take along a small offering of sorts. Normally he took regular chocolate, but homemade cookies certainly were more appreciatory.

And yummier in his opinion, as he had added his own sweat and blood, metaphorically speaking, in the batter. Which made it all the more worth it, just like how the friends he had made in the Digital World were still the best there ever were, even if he was now more popular in school than he had ever been.

Yeah, Kouishirou was a good option. Junpei left the pile, knowing full well he'd devour some before dinner otherwise and ruin his appetite, and dug around for a zip-it bag. That took a little scrummaging before he managed to pull one out from the back of the pantry.

Who knew he'd used so many in the past few weeks? He quickly jotted it onto the shopping list before he forgot.

Then he began hunting for the container, coming up empty.

Apparently, so many new friends weren't a good thing, because he'd paced a metaphorical dent into the floor before the pantry, unable to remember who he had given it to.

* * *

Yutaka was surprised to finish using the computer only to find Tomoki still pouring over the newspaper. While the two brothers were getting along better than they previously had, Tomoki hadn't grown up an awful lot since and his patience was one of those.

Still, it seemed something was occupying his attention, and the younger Himi peered over the other's shoulder at the advertisement.

'Ohayou Ni-chan,' Tomoki said brightly, looking up. 'You're finished with the computer.'

'Sure am,' Yutaka responded. 'What are you up to, Squirt?'

'We're going to the new amusement park,' Tomoki said brightly. 'So I'm trying to find out what the best rides are.'

'The amusement park?' Yutaka raised an eyebrow.

'Kouichi-ni suggested it,' the other explained.

Yutaka blinked. He'd met all of Tomoki's friends; naturally, he had to make sure his brother was in good company, particularly considering his lack of good judgement at the time. And from what he'd seen of Kimura Kouichi, he didn't seem like the sort who would enjoy the flashy environment of the amusement park nearly as much as he would something darker and quiet, like a classic at the cinema or a reading at the library…or a new exhibit at the museum, which he was sure was in session at the local one. 'I wonder why,' he said.

'He said he saw it in the newspaper but didn't really read it properly.' Tomoki shrugged. 'You know how they're busy tidying up the new apartment.'

Yutaka knew; his brother had gone white as a sheet after seeing the damage on television before receiving a call to tell him his friend as his mother were fine, even if their old apartment was not. Then he had gotten excited at the knowledge of the other moving closer, so the six were in walking distance of each other as opposed to a four hour train ride by bullet train.

'Tell him about the new exhibit at the museum,' he suggested. 'Kouichi-kun would probably enjoy it. So would Junpei-kun, since it's on mechanics.'

'I'll tell them,' Tomoki promised. 'Hey, maybe we can all go there together. We've got the student-free day coming up soon, and Izumi-nee likes museums too.'

'Really?' Another surprise.

'Yeah, something about the old feel to them.'

'Hmm…" Yutaka's brow furrowed a little; his brother had told him about the interschool race and Izumi's consequent under-enthusiasm about her victory. 'Izumi-chan doesn't seem like the sort of person who would enjoy a trip to the museum,' he ventured.

'She said she does,' Tomoki said, looking a little confused.

I don't think that's what she meant, Yutaka thought to himself, but he didn't say so out loud. That was something Tomoki was going to have to learn on his own.

'How about a chess match?' he asked instead.

'Okay.' Tomoki hopped off the carpet.

'But first, tidy up those papers before 'tou-san comes home.'


	3. Inverted World

**A/N: **In terms of Camp NaNo, this is day 24 with just under half left at the beginning of this chapter. But with tests out of the way it's time to zoom ahead. Hopefully.

I actually finished the Camp NaNo wordcount I had allocated myself roughly 4000 words into the next chapter chapter, so I've kind of left the rest till later. Maybe get some of my other fics completed. Achilles' Heel and The Night Sky are pretty close.

* * *

**Scroll of the Hearts  
**_a new quest beyond the boundaries of dimension and form_

**Chapter 3  
Inverted World**

Kouichi was, once again, up before the sun. Or he thought so anyway; he wasn't quite sure, having not cared to open his eyes early, particularly on a Sunday, but the absence of light streaming through his eyelids and colouring his vision red was a rather good indicator. Though the glare was present by the time he opened them, marking a reasonable hour for crawling out of bed.

And it was starting to become the norm, despite his reluctance to get up. It seemed his body wasn't used to the new futon and blanket yet; they still had the smell and feel of newness, unlike his old ones, the blanket especially which had been patched up many a time by his grandmother. Apparently, he'd used to poke holes with the sewing scissors while his grandmother patched up a previously made hole on the other end. And despite popular opinion that all the patches made the blanket uncomfortable to sleep in, it had been quite soft, snugly and warm.

The current one still felt a little hard, even if its appearance was far more presentable. It was the same colour; grey, almost black. Apparently made from the same material, although both he and his mother were rather doubtful there. "Same material" didn't mean what it once did, what with all the artificialness and all.

Once upon a time, he would have comfortably lain there until the sun was well on its way through the sky, before abandoning his futon for the day's events, but he was quick to leave it behind, still finding he wasn't quite used to the feel even after having slept on it for weeks.

In fact, the whole apartment, more or less, felt like that.

His new room was nothing like his old one. It was more spacious, so instead of tripping over boxes that served as miniature filing cabinets for various odds and ends, said things were on the built-in bookshelf and he was tripping over either the corners of the carpet, or worse, thin air. Which was quite sad really, as he was quite a graceful dancer and did, most of the time, land on his feet when taking a spill. The contradiction was lost on everyone, though Takuya had said once it might be the cat tripping on his tail. Izumi though, having a cat of her own and having never seen such a thing, had proceeded to tear the comment apart, and no-one had bothered to say anything about likening Kouichi to a cat.

Not that there was anything to say, seeing as that they all beared a less than physical resemblance to their beast spirit forms. It was odd to find that they equally contradicted them though; for instance, Kouji's beast spirit was a wolf, but the "lone wolf" title had fallen off during their time in the Digital World, though he was still as protective with his "pack". And an odd sort of pack there was too; one could draw a Venn diagram and find someone who didn't fit anywhere else.

Actually, all of them had the same circumstance, except himself who was perfectly content to have five close friends and had never tried reaching out to anyone else. And so he had left nothing behind by means of people, even if it was still a little discerning to not see the faces he had gradually become accustomed to and new faces instead. At least he was old enough for them not to give him nightmares.

Once the futon was rolled away, it seemed there was even more space. His mother said not to worry about it; it would soon fill up with odds and ends. And he could have a bed, she said. Although he had a habit of tossing and turning in his sleep…and quite frankly, a futon was better for one's back. Especially at a younger age. And that would be just another thing to get used to.

Tomoko liked having the extra space; Kouichi preferred things cluttered, but that was simply because of how he had grown up. Still, it felt like there was extra space for…other things to crawl in. Not monsters under the bed, but only because you couldn't really squeeze something under a mat that lay on the ground. But things of a somewhat darker nature; space and darkness together still reminded him all too well of his time in the Dark Area, and while he knew what was there and what wasn't, the feeling still made him feel restricted. Claustrophobic almost, which was strange because he never got the same feeling in cramped space, where the phobia (its meaning) originated.

Of course, the white walls had been problematic too, but he'd soon fixed that. He had photos, which had largely survived thanks to their albums and what hadn't had been quickly replicated by his friends. Drawings, though only the ones that had been in his scrapbooks at school (and he had lucked out, having forgotten to pick up the previous year's one after the exhibit). Most of his grandfather's paintings had been ruined beyond repair, including a rather large portrait of their family (at the time, it was his grandparents, his mother and a toddler version of himself; his grandfather had died when he was quite young). Poster versions of them survived though, and there had been two originals, including his favourite: a spider's web spanning an expanse of black (though he was sure he wouldn't like it nearly as much if it had an actual spider…not that he had anything against spiders). Now the assortment of images covered one wall, while the walk in closer posed a problem for another and the shelves and desk took up most of the third. The desk was bigger, but in this case it was an advantage for him, considering how he often wound up beginning work on one thing and ending with another. He more space to put more things essentially, so he managed to accomplish just a little more in just a little time, as roundabout as it sounded. It simply meant he could do more in one seating at his desk than he could previously.

And to think there was a time he had dreamed about being far away from their small and modest apartment. Away from his room that sometimes felt like it was filled to the brim with things he could never seem to finish. Books from the library – of which he was always extra mindful of in terms of location, condition and due date considering they weren't his own and needed to be returned at some point. Drawings, a good number of which remain eternally incomplete. Drafts for stories…that his brother had nagged for him to type at either their father's house or the school computer in case he misplaced the hard copies. Kouji had those somewhere on his computer and was perfectly happy to print them, but writing was something Kouichi could only ever do when he was in the mood. It would be a terrible waste of paper to reprint the lot and never use a good number of them.

And of course his homework assignments, which hadn't mattered in the end with him changing schools. And he hadn't been the only student in the same situation; the apartment above their old one had more or less wound up in the same condition, and several other complexes were either damaged or totally levelled.

In a way, they were lucky. They had one wall still standing: the backyard one funnily enough. The climbing vines had been more than happy; without the large tree blocking their reach of the sun, it didn't take them long to thrive like the weeds they were. After all, most adults didn't want vines creeping up walls; they all knew how the mortar was weakened as a result.

Still, of all the walls that was probably the least important one. Maybe it survived because it didn't have another seven floors to hold up; Kouichi didn't really know, nor did he really wish to speculate (although, quite frankly, he couldn't help himself). Still, if it were, for example, the wall between the kitchen and the living room that had survived, maybe a few more of their keepsakes might have made it through the ordeal. Like the picture of his grandmother they had always kept on the drawers. Like the hand-made ornamental vase Tomoko had received on her wedding day from a long-lost friend. Like his D-scanner, lying innocently on the top as he dashed off to school and getting crushed in the debris.

If only he had taken it with him, but at that time he didn't have it attached to the hip. Sure, he took it to school most days, and whenever he went to hang out with his friends (unless they were going swimming). But days where they had sport, or an excursion, or were dressing up for something, were days the D-scanner stayed at home.

The consequence was the shattered mess of wire and metal pieces, with other things which didn't look like a part of the functional D-scanner but he hadn't been able to clean out no matter how hard he tried. Safe in a Zippo bag (that had come free with something or other), but unrepairable, and aside from its sentimental value, utterly worthless.

Still, he couldn't help but check on it before carefully tucking it into a pocket – and it just so happened that almost every pair of pants he owned had pockets, and a good number of his shirts and jackets too, so there was always something, although the lump sometimes brought about odd stares, especially if it was the breast pocket.

But this pocket was perfectly reasonable, and safe as it was quite deep. It didn't have a zip, but it was the next best thing, and with that done he was up and about and ready to start the day – outside his room.

Morning rituals were naturally the first thing on the list, followed by breakfast. He didn't always have one; often he found he functioned better if he just had a glass of milk before school till an apple at recess. Naturally not on days where he began with a test, but he always learnt things better when going over them multiple times and collecting just a little more in each than trying to absorb it all in a single seat. And that was what ultimately happened when he was fully energised and focused on nothing else.

Even if it wasn't the healthiest of habits. But that Sunday wasn't a school day, nor was he planning on just staying about the house. With the amusement park trip planned, he would need some energy to get through the morning. Particularly if they started with the water activities.

And so he buttered himself some toast to go with the milk, finding two slices awaiting him upon entering the kitchen. Apparently, his mother had already eaten and left for shopping, revealing the state of her son's internal alarm clock as well as the kitchen cupboards.

But when he finished eating and washing the dishes, he found he still had a good half hour before he was expecting his friends. If he were to go to one of their houses, he would have had less time – particularly Junpei and Izumi as they lived a little further away. But as they were meeting at his still new and unbroken apartment, he had just a little extra time on his hands.

Which was annoying, to say the least, as he hadn't been any new books at the library so he was fresh out. His homework was largely done, except an art project that would require a trip to the local shrine to complete – which he couldn't afford in the time he had that day. Monday after school was when he planned to do that particular sketch and reflection, but apart from that he didn't have anything else that needed to be done, school-wise.

And he couldn't well start sanding again; his fingers were still a little stiff from the previous night and he would just get himself covered in dust. A double-negative there.

Although there was the school flute, he reflected after completing the mental checklist. They may have had the first recital, but they wouldn't be finishing with the instrument for another two weeks and there would most certainly be another one on the way. This time it would probably be a set piece as opposed to a blind one, likely one they had covered or will in the next fortnight.

Sadly, after a little poking around, he had to admit he had left the music book at school. Still, he stood in the middle of the living room (in front of a looming old grandfather clock that had been mounted into the wall some years ago it appeared), and raised the flute to his lips.

Trying to remember a piece – any piece – he began to play.

The music came out soft and whistling, barely audible but somehow reminding him of a gentle wind blowing through the recesses of a leafy tree. He drew in a breath, still playing, still fiddling with the tune as he tried to follow a script that existed – incomplete – in his mind.

What came after the gentle wind? Stronger gales, he thought. Crashing into cliffs and ripping through waves that rose from far below, trying to reach the lone spirit beyond everyone's grasp. The sad lone spirit who was set apart from the world without wanting to, yet forever trapped in such a prison even after nature itself tried to reach for him.

Rising gales: ever more tremulous, more viscous. Sea waves whithering far below, falling over rocky roads as their fingers fail to reach his height. Thunder that came from the sky, attracted to the pools of water below –

_How can I play the sound of thunder on a flute?_

He stopped playing suddenly, before laughing to himself as he realised he had simply let his imagination run away with him again. He could still hear the distant echo of the gentle wind piece he had been playing – or rather, attempting to play, though granted, the tune did lend itself to depressing undertones.

Or maybe it was just when he was the one playing it.

He closed his eyes, trying again. The first few lines came naturally enough, but by the time he came to the sea-shift he could not for the life of him figure out whether it was his imagination or such a shift actually existed in the piece.

It didn't really matter though, seeing as he didn't have the music sheet before him, and so he continued on, giving voice to the frantic sea – though he was pretty sure the "frantic" label was of his own invention. People seemed more accustomed to labelling the turmoil as rage opposed to desperation.

It was certainly more poetic though, thinking about a sea desperately chasing after something, squealing and crackling as it crashed into rocks and waves and the wind, who was either helping or hindering that quest –

The phone rang, startling him into dropping the flute. He didn't take note of the odd echo – the grandfather clock had a habit of doing it, and to be honest he rather liked the sound effects as it filled up some empty patches – as he hurriedly picked up the receiver on the last ring.

But when the silence that greeted his ear was punctured by static cackles, he listened more carefully.

'Hello?' he asked. By then the music had stopped echoing, and his voice echoed a little instead. But even after that, the cackling was still audible.

And no-one replied. As far as he could tell, no-one even tried to reply so it couldn't be simply bad reception. He asked once again, and then replaced the receiver. If it was important, whoever it was would ring again.

The odd thing was though, he could still the cackling. Almost like the wires of their old home, broken but still trying to make a connection when the power had been turned back on. Naturally, they hadn't been allowed anywhere near, but even the quietest sounds became magnified when all else was silent.

His first thought was to check the clock in case he had lost track of time and Takuya had taken the opportunity to prank him. But it was too early; Kami forbid that Takuya would arrive early to anything after all. The next thing was a blank stare, sweeping across any electrical appliances within sight. Nothing obvious seemed the matter though, and as Junpei once pointed out, he wouldn't know the difference unless he switched one on anyway – aside from obvious issues of course.

Still, if there was a wire sparking anywhere, it should be pretty obvious.

It wasn't until his hand accidentally brushed against the pocket that he felt the sting of said spark and finally found its origin. Surprised, he pulled the collated pieces of his D-scanner from his pocket, finding the interior of the plastic containment filled with yellow webs of electricity.

He dropped it immediately; while his brain hadn't quite caught up to the fact that handling open currents like that without a rubber medium was dangerous, the sight itself was shocking enough.

And it was a good thing he did as well, as the air inside suddenly exploded with a seemingly impossible force for such a little space. The power shot across the floor like a shockwave, passing through the table legs, the flute…and his body as well.

* * *

'You're early?' Kouji asked sceptically, staring at Takuya.

He'd left his own house with five minutes to spare, hoping to get to his brother's just a little before the others…though it was a bit of a touch and go with Tomoki. The youngest of them would either be really early or rushing for time, depending on how hard a time his still somewhat overprotective parents gave him.

Normally, that wasn't a problem, but every parent had their day. And that included his own father and stepmother – though he was yet to hear them put up any sort of fight when it came to his brother. Something he wasn't ashamed to admit taking full advantage of.

Takuya, on the other hand, was prone to rocking up at least ten minutes _late_, and he didn't even have Kouichi's excuse. Granted, he could no longer argue that trains were delayed since he lived far closer nowadays, nor had he been late in the last couple of months.

Still, for Takuya to be early…

'Is that a problem?' Takuya asked, acting as though it was perfectly ordinary.

'I guess you don't really have an ordinary to have an abnormal,' Kouji sighed, shaking his head and walking off. Really, there was no need for them to stand about.

Takuya followed, scowling good-naturedly – as odd as it sounded, but between Kouji and Takuya, it was rare one of them didn't pull the contradiction off.

'Can't you come up with something new?'

'Can't you?' Kouji countered.

That shut Takuya up. Not indefinitely of course.

Except they never got back to this particular argument, as both of them felt an odd jolt run from their heels to their heads.

They both stopped walking, Takuya a little slower than Kouji and resulting in him bumping into the other's back. 'What was that?' he asked.

'No idea,' Kouji replied, blinking himself before looking around. There certainly wasn't anything that seemed as though it were responsible, and if Takuya felt it too, it certainly couldn't be pins and needles or anything in his runners.

'Do you think it's another earthquake?' It was a little exciting, despite how little the distraction was. It simply showed how bored Takuya had gotten, latching on to anything and occasionally forgetting his sensitivity at home.

'Don't you dare jinx us,' Kouji hissed in response.

'Alright, alright.' Takuya held up his arms in surrender – not that Kouji could see them, as he had started walking again. 'It was just a thought. I mean, you know anything else that causes the ground to shake?'

'I don't think the ground shook at all,' Kouji said slowly, mulling the thought over in his head. 'It felt more like an electric shock. Like the sort when you touch a doorknob sometimes. Except on the heel.'

'I guess so,' Takuya said doubtfully. He didn't see how the two sentences were related, but didn't question it. More likely than not it was chalked up to him not paying attention in most classes.

Then he walked into Kouji again. 'What's it this time?'

'Why is the light in the living room on?' Kouji wondered, staring at the apartment complex. He could easily work out which windows were a part of his brother's and mother's apartment, and even which rooms they led to. He probably knew that better than Kouichi, in fact, for the elder brother was still struggling to call the new place his home.

And indeed, as Kouji said, the living room appeared abnormally bright. The curtains were drawn – as they often were when Tomoko wasn't home. But they were glowing from the brightness on the other side.

'Maybe someone's doing maintenance?' Takuya suggested.

'On a Sunday?'

'Why not – ' Takuya cut himself off when he saw Kouji suddenly freeze. 'Something the matter?'

That that moment, the other had just felt another jolt. This one slightly different, like when Kouichi had fallen down the stairs, or when Lucemon –

He suddenly broke into a run, with Takuya yelling after him to slow down.

* * *

Kouichi was blinded by light, and it took a while for the insistent beeping sound to reach his ears. When it did, and he recognised the sound as his (or rather, their) D-scanner when the fractal code of Seraphimon's castle had been nearby.

He did a double take upon that thought, for his D-scanner was in no condition to be picking up a signal from the Digital World, but the thought crossed his mind that perhaps some higher power had fixed it and he felt around, still unable to make out anything aside from the yellow.

His fingers touched plastic, and then sight and sound went out as though someone flipped a switch, and he was faced with just a silent blackness.

But it wasn't completely silent, he realised, after he had breathed a little. Sounds, nonsensical, were echoing in the far distance, and he could just make out thin lines, like those on some of the older television screens.

They were moving about too. Rather dizzily at that.

* * *

Kouji and Takuya ran into Tomoki and Junpei on the stairs, and Izumi wasn't far behind them, so it was in a haphazard group of five that they rushed into the living room (with various degrees of panic; for the most part, the others were just following Kouji). Surprisingly, the door had been unlocked.

And that was probably a good thing, otherwise they would have missed the sight of shards of metal and plastic being knitted together by a yellow thread to recreate a D-scanner none of them had realised still existed in their world.

'Is that – ?' Tomoki blinked, eyes watering.

'Didn't it turn into data like ours?' Izumi wondered aloud.

'I wonder – ' Kouji began, before giving a cry of surprise as his brother, strangely silent and still before, fell forward. 'Ni-san!'

He caught the other and their knees slammed into the ground. Luckily, the living room was carpeted so that softened the impact, otherwise both of them would have had trouble walking elsewhere. Although it didn't really look as though Kouichi would be going anywhere; his eyes were open, but they were as blank as they remembered from that day, rushing into the ER and finding him on the verge of death.

'Ni-san!' He shook the other by the shoulders, then let go in sudden shock.

Quite literally at that, as the D-scanner suddenly began throwing out pulses of electric energy into the only conductor in contact with it: the twins. Or more specifically, the elder twin as Kouji's first reaction was to jump away, and as much as he tried to regret it there was nothing he could do thereafter. By then, the other four had come close and spread themselves out as well, Junpei not noticing he had stepped on Kouichi's dropped flute by mistake. It was a strong one and so wouldn't break easily, but that was the last thing on anyone's mind at that point.

All of them were simply wondering what was going on, and that in itself had enough dimensions to keep them occupied for the few seconds it took for the visible currents to ensnare them as well. They were all naturally worried for their friend. Somewhere, in the corner of their minds, they wondered to various degrees as to why Kouichi had never mentioned retaining his D-scanner from the Digital World, nor that it had been broken at some point thereafter (for they all saw it being appeared by the strange yellow threads). And naturally, they wondered about the burst of light, and the yellow electrical currents that still persisted.

For really, they must be electrical currents, for what else cackled and spat like that.

But just as the thought crossed Junpei's mind that there was something distinctly odd about said currents, beyond their colour and their visibility, it touched his feet and sent an oddly familiar shock through his body.

The next moment, his gut was lurching forward with the rest of his body falling behind, until the whole of him slammed into some soft grass. Soft groans around him said the others had suffered the same fate.

'Hey!' Takuya suddenly exclaimed, sounding more excited than he had for a while. 'Isn't this the Digital World?'

Junpei picked himself off the grass and looked around. An orange bobbing hat out of the corner of his vision told him Tomoki was doing the same. He couldn't see Izumi or the twins though; the grass was terribly long.

'Oh, it is.' Izumi sounded thrilled. 'Just look down there!'

Junpei turned around carefully, finding he was stepping on something hard still. For the moment though, he just toed the object away. It was probably just a twig. He managed to catch sight of Izumi, and what appeared to be the top of Kouji's bandana, as well as the cliff that dropped away a safe distance from them into a deep valley. And in that valley…

'Isn't this the place Izumi and Tomoki lost their spirits?' he wondered aloud, before clasping his hands over his mouth when he realised it wasn't exactly the most pleasant memory to remind them of.

'It is,' the blonde responded regardless, though her tone did dim a little. 'And that looks like where the Gotsumon village used to be.'

'That was just their hideout,' Kouji corrected, straightening into a sitting position finally with Kouichi's D-scanner in hand. 'But why are we here?'

Everyone shrugged; there were certainly no tell-tale signs of danger. The world looked to be in one piece, and quiet…though that was hardly any sort of scale to go by.

Tomoki stood on his tiptoes to get a better look at his surroundings. 'Where's Kouichi?' he asked.

'Here,' Kouji answered shortly.

The others turned to him. 'Here as in fine but not telling you himself?' Takuya asked. At a scowl and a nod he replied: 'Honestly, sometimes you worry too much.'

'Well, excuse me for wanting to make sure my brother's okay,' the other responded frostily.

'We were all zapped by that electrothingy,' Takuya pointed out, ignoring Izumi's muttered comment on his use of the suffix "thingy". 'If we're fine, I'm sure Kouichi's fine too.'

Kouji sighed. 'I know. But all that yellow stuff was pretty weird.'

The brunet shrugged at that. 'Who cares about whether it was weird or not? We're back in the Digital World!' He danced around a little, before tripping over the object Junpei had kicked away. 'Oww – what the hell!'

He bent down and retracted a flute. And not just any flute, but one that was quite familiar to him. 'How'd Kouichi's flute follow us to the Digital World?'

There were simply too many questions.

'I think we better try and pay the Gotsumon a visit,' Izumi said, after the silence stretched a little awkwardly. 'There isn't any other settlement around for miles, is there? And we need to find out why we're here…and maybe how. And we can't exactly go wandering around with one of us unconscious'

Not from their memories there wasn't. Funnily enough, the one who would know best out of them was in no condition to say anything.

'I guess we better,' Junpei agreed, before hurrying over to Kouji. 'Here, let me help.'

Kouji would have argued, but he realised climbing off the cliff, however narrow, was not a good idea with someone roughly his height and weight on his back without a firm support.

* * *

When they got to the village however, they found it deserted. Worse, they found it in ruins. Kouji froze, almost dropping his unmoving brother for the second time as he remembered the brave young Gotsumon he had befriended upon those very grounds. Even the large carving they revered was decimated, though a single red eye still glowed, where the Digi-code lay concealed.

'Was there a fight here?' Takuya asked, looking around.

'No,' Junpei replied, peering closely at the place. 'Looks more like everything's crumbled with age to me.'

They looked around, more carefully. Izumi felt the nearest boulder. Junpei was right; the rocks weren't sharp and brittle but smooth and worn, a feat that only came with the passing of time. And the small houses had rot in their wood upon further inspection. Sheets had no tears, but rather their barest threads gleamed in the sun, clinging to what form they retained.

There was no life in the village save themselves. No food, no weapons. Only a few scarce things that lay abandoned for sun and nature – or pillagers – to cease.

'This place has been abandoned for decades,' Junpei surmised after poking around an empty barrel. 'Looks like a lot more time passed here than in our world.'

'So then all of the friends we made could be gone?' Tomoki asked the silence.

It was a depressing thought that no-one wanted to think about. Perhaps it was a good thing that the sun began to dip at that moment, because it set their minds to more practical matters.

'We'd better find somewhere to stay for the night,' Kouji said, speaking for the first time since they entered the village and finally standing from where he had been staying with his brother. Kouichi still hadn't moved, but it didn't look as though anything was wrong with him, and the scare from his blank eyes had been rectified now that they were closed and his breathing perfectly even.

There was little choice in the matter: only the cave half hidden by the carving that came out of the front wall. The houses were in no condition to be lived in, and they wouldn't have fit even the smallest of them with comfort.

The initial excitement had long since faded, though it was more than likely it would return when surrounded by the happier Digital World. Still, for Izumi and particularly Takuya, there was still a thrill about being back, something that had been missing in their lives till that point.

The complete opposite, Kouji couldn't help but wish the Digital World had waited just a little longer before calling them.


	4. Songs that Play in Silence

**A/N: **A nanocube is a cube that has 10nm (or 10^-9m) dimensions. That's beyond the limits of the basic microscopes.

I didn't finish this chapter before reaching my target for camp nano, so I left it until the holidays to finish up. And since I didn't want to leave it on my harddrive for too long (particularly since I've already posted three chapters to this), you guys get an extra chapter…and a break from the mini-cliffie…by giving you another one? Maybe? Depends on how confident you are really…

Okay, I'll just leave you guys to enjoy the chapter.

* * *

**Scroll of the Hearts  
**_a new quest beyond the boundaries of dimension and form_

**Chapter 4  
Songs That Play in Silence**

There was the sound of something very soft singing without words. Kouichi opened his eyes, finding the strange yellow threads he'd seen before now stretched away from him like a web suspended in midair. His surroundings were still black, but this time it was only how the threads seemed to vanish into infinity that was frightening to him.

Still, they seemed to fill the space, so that was an added comfort, and for the moment he just stood there – or rather hung in zero gravity as it seemed. The soft sound was like something he rarely heard, when the world was travelling slowly enough that one could hear the slightest breath, the slightest whisper…and more besides. Thin air rushing through cracks in the order to rippling in a breeze docile enough to pass a speck of dust without turning it.

Some would call it the sound of silence. But those people had never heard true silence. The silence of silence of emptiness.

The silence of death.

He closed his eyes, then opened them. The dim light still remained, casting no shadows into the darkness and yet somehow blending in, so he couldn't make out the fine line that distinguished them.

It was when he tried to move that he realised the thin tendrils were in fact wrapped quite firmly around him, making it impossible to move without breaking them. Furthermore, they weren't nearly as fragile as they appeared, otherwise his original movement would have broken them.

Indeed, they seemed to have resisted him, although when he shifted back into his former relaxed position, the feeling of being held fell away. Naturally, with the newfound knowledge, there existed the remnant of tightness that came with the knowledge of restraint, but his physical body, at that moment, could feel nothing of the sort.

Still, that didn't change the fact that he was trapped. Either the tendrils bound him to his position to save him from falling, or becoming lost…or they imprisoned him. They weren't firm enough for the latter, and yet their formation was a little too eerie for the former. Spreading out, as if he was in the centre of a spider's web, like the fly caught and waiting until it would be devoured into the beast's belly…

Suddenly, he felt warm. Very warm.

It seemed the tendrils felt that, before they suddenly tightened around his wrists and pulled them forward. The ones around his stomach, legs and neck remained firm, so it was only his fingers stretching out to touch the further threads, where they wove together into several plait like structures, firmer, wider…and probably stronger.

They seemed innocent enough, but he'd had plenty of nightmares that had started with a pretty face. Like the one with the poppy garden.

He was suddenly cold. Enough so that he almost blacked out, but the bind around his neck choked him, forcing him to lean forward a little and cough for extra air. Between that and the trembling he hadn't noticed he had been doing, he managed to ward off the sudden chill well enough.

His head was starting to spin from all the thoughts and feelings. Then, a softer music started up. Flute music, but nothing like what any of them played in class. Their music was harsher, punctured. Especially the beginners playing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". This music was far more gentle, like a lullaby.

The cords around his wrists tugged again, making him wonder if he had been falling asleep. Though the idea was rather insane; falling asleep in a dream, with odd yellow chords he had thought initially was electricity somehow having a mind of its own…

The cords swam in front of his vision suddenly, and tightened around him in urgency. Warning him, or maybe hurrying him.

He opened his mouth to ask aloud, but the sound was swallowed into nothing. As was whatever air he had been breathing, because he was suddenly freefalling again, several golden lassos reaching for him. Without thinking, he reached out – the left hand, not the right which was the more natural one – and grasped one, hoping it could hold his weight in freefall.

Instead, he sat up, disoriented and blinking into existence a cave shadowed with the pink-stricken sky of the fake dawn.

* * *

The world was silent, but not the silence which came with a realm lost in sleep. Rather, it was an eerie silence, the calm that came at the forewings of a long and terrible storm that would last until the first rays of dawn appeared on the horizon and brought the harsh light of reprieve and the picture of a desolate world.

The ones who survived that world day by day knew well of this, and by night they crept into holes and crevices that hid them from said world. The state was inescapable; they were too young, too small, to be able to travel far enough to the world where lush grass and blossoming flowers existed and they didn't have to hide from the pillaging night. But for them: young, defenceless and many, they had little choice save to conceal themselves.

And unable to hide many at once, nor hide in the earth as their neighbours did, they, with their soft pink bodies rounded with a shortly tender upbringing, were forced to climb as high as they dared into the mountain, split into groups.

There were few Agumon to help them; most had long since abandoned their birthplace but a few remained. These few protected their brethren, scraping away the rocks to create a safe path while sharpening artfully to protect from discovery. The eyes of the sky were sharp after all, but not as sharp as the land-dwellers, and none could out-compete a desert lizard in concealing a lair amidst a dry and arid environment.

The desert was too dry to raise the Koromon, so they stayed close where the grass was still in sight and reach – or once was. But the grass was too far to reach in their current state for most of them; while the Agumon(while not particular fans of the more moist scene) could climb up, it would take too long to help all the Koromonto those higher grounds, and the consequence was that someone was left behind in their haste as the sun began to dip. So the dream became distant as they saw the grass only by the light of the moon…with the shadows of their predators above it.

So far, their small havens for the night were safe, as discerning as it was to sleep with such shadows abreast. And yet that night, the first Koromon let out a scream that could only be stifled by doubt and an even greater fear en route.

'Hurry it up,' the Agumon at the bottom whispered.

'There are others here,' the Koromon sent back down, and the Agumon left his brethren below him and climbed up.

The Koromon were right, though they were unlike any other Digimonhe had ever seen. And asleep, looking at home and yet uncomfortable, invigorated yet exhausted. Almost as if they too had once lived in their very homes, or nearby.

_But then they can't be…_

'Go on up,' the Agumon said finally, hoping he was correct and not making the decision that could kill them all. 'They're humans.'

The whisper spread.

_Humans. They're humans…_

But they had no time to wonder, no time to question. The night was almost upon them; already the sky was darkening with streaks of pink and red.

And so they hurried, six Koromon and the Agumon that led them, hiding above the humans so as to not wake them, for even Agumon would not dare, unsure as he was.

He said nothing of his doubt however; he would simply frighten the others, and they needed some rest that night. As it was, there was nowhere else for them to hide, so it was either the ones who appeared to be humans but were perhaps the enemy in disguise, or the ones they knew to be their enemies and their executioners.

Still, he found it difficult to sleep that night, knowing below him were beings he knew nothing about. It was not an environment of trust after all, but they could have just been children, and because of that, he didn't have the heart to wake them…

Or attack them in their sleep.

* * *

The first thing Kouichi noticed was the yellow lizard in a little hole across from him, and he couldn't help but make a noise of exclamation. It was soft, but enough to cause a green eye to open and blink down at him.

His breath caught in his throat under the scrutiny, and moreso when a paw carefully manoeuvring its way out from under the belly and beckoned him.

Kouichi looked around quickly, finding similar holes around, some apparently freshly dug, but all containing Koromon the same. Below, like him, were his friends, curled up on the wall or spread across the floor, and still fast asleep. Carefully then, he crawled over Tomoki and came to the hole about halfway up the wall where the Agumon was.

'You're awfully trusting,' the Agumon whispered. 'This close, I could cover your mouth with one paw and slit your throat with the claws on the other.'

The human's eyes widened in the dim light at the cynical tone in which murder was suggested, but answered. 'Surely it would have been easier while we all…asleep.'

He hesitated on the last word; while he could see the threads of the fake dawn disappearing into the sky to give way for a little more darkness before the day, he did not recall falling asleep, or winding up in the cave in the Digital World.

In fact, he didn't recall even winding up in the Digital World, but it wouldn't be the first time he had been completely uprooted from his last recollections. His memory wasn't the best after his first trip to the Digital World after all; while he had no problem replicating things from books per say, he had a little more trouble remembering so accurately personal experiences. It may have been he had simply forgotten what had happen, in which case it would probably come back in due time.

In any case, it probably didn't surprise him as much as it should have, or perhaps it was because of the Agumon's conversation starter.

'Indeed it would,' the Agumon said gravely, yet disapproving. 'Yet those of us with good hearts find it very difficult to resort to such cowardly actions, despite how they are used against us.'

'Used against you?'Kouichi repeated, going a little pale as he turned the sentence over in his head. 'You mean someone is slaughtering your –' He broke off, realising he was about to say "people", a label somewhat inappropriate for Digimon groups.

'My children,' the Agumon completed. 'If you which to call them that. Indeed, they are my brethren.' He waved his free paw at the Koromon that continued to sleep. 'And you must either be humans from the human world, or very good actors to feign ignorance.' He still sounded somewhat distrustful, but a little placate. At least, he was in a good position for a counterattack if something happened.

Kouichi really had no idea what to say to that. 'You're hiding here,' he hedged finally. 'From what?'

He received an odd look in return. 'Your ignorance knows no bounds,' he commented, and the other blushed. Interested, a paw came up to touch the cheek. 'You feel warm,' he noted. 'Digimon skin is very different, despite how one changes its outward appearance. It is always cold.'

And indeed, Kouichi could feel the slight chill from Agumon's paw.

'So you are human,' the other noted. 'And ignorant of the state of this world. Funny, the things we forget when surrounded by others…'

'I thought the Digital World knew about humans,' Kouichi said slowly. The way the Agumon spoke, it seemed very little was known of them. 'And our world.'

'We do,' the Agumon replied. 'Perhaps too much, for that knowledge is of little help to us. But if you are humans and you are here, then you must be the Chosen who will save this world again, like the warriors did in the legend.'

_Warriors?_ Kouichi thought._ The Ten Legendary Warriors?_But he said nothing out loud; it wasn't necessarily a good idea, particularly since it sounded as though quite a long time had passed in the Digital World since their last visit. After all, who would believe they were those same warriors, who had once defended the world against Lucemon.

At least it wasn't a matter of trust, unless this Agumon was simply trying to milk them for information. He didn't think so though; the Koromon looked frightened even in their sleep, but it was near impossible to wear masks in such a state. The alternative was naturally that they _weren't_ asleep and simply biding their time, but for none of them to awaken they were either trustworthy or their time away from the Digital World had sorely dulled their reflexes.

Still, it wasn't a cause of concern, so there was no reason not to give them the benefit of the doubt. Especially as he couldn't picture Child Digimon as agents of evil…regardless of whatever was plaguing their world.

'Well, the Agumon asked. 'Are you?'

Kouichi wished he could simply answer up front, but he couldn't. He didn't know what the problem was. He didn't know the solution. He didn't even know how or when they had wound up in the Digital World, or in what state, or even where their spirits were.

It suddenly occurred to him that, without their spirits, they were incredibly vulnerable. And it was just lucky – if indeed they were safe and not caught in a spider's web – that they had been found by friends and not foes.

The thought of webs brought back his odd dream, and he moved back almost involuntarily, remembering the support that held him vanishing and sending him lurching through a bottomless pitch of darkness. Still, they were far away enough from the entrance that only Tomoki sitting up unexpectedly was likely to cause any excitement.

'It's not safe to go out till the sun rises,' Agumon said unexpectedly, eyeing him curiously.

'I'll – I'll keep that in mind.'

Even more surprisingly, the lizard smiled, sharp teeth gleaming slightly in the shadows and what dim light came from the wide expanse of sky.

'The Koromon will be up by then too,' he explained. 'They tend to be quite wild wakers nowadays.'

* * *

The evening had snuck up so quickly on them that they had been forced to scale the cliff (with Junpei and Kouji once again manoeuvring the elder twin) up to the small cave in the wall. The silence was somewhat frightening, as the last time they had gone to the Digital World it had been bustling with a hurried activity wherever they went. That included the Dark Contininent on its own secluded piece of land, with the Pipsimon fluttering about after providing that initial scare.

Although Duskmon's arrival had quietened things for a while, but it was odd and rather discerning to find the surrounds so thoroughly abandoned. Even more so since they'd seen so sign of what had called them. Kouichi's D-scanner seemed to have disappeared, and there seemed to be no food for miles around.

In the end, they called it a very early night, thinking it would be easier to go down into the rocky valley in the morning, fit and rested, to search for the Gotsumon. And since there was no food to be found, although almost everybody had brought something with them to Kouichi's apartment, they had little else to do but sit back and close their eyes.

None of them expected to be awoken at dawn by several over-excited pink blobs.

'Oi! You fools! What if _they_ stuck around!' a voice suddenly thundered – quietly. Or as quietly as one could thunder in any case.

'We're alive! We're alive!' the pink blobs cheered, bouncing around too fast to be seen. The noise had woken Tomoki, almost crashing into Kouichi who realised too late he should have probably gone back to his original spot. One pink blob bounced merrily on Izumi's stomach, causing her to shriek and kick out, accidentally catching Junpei in the shins. Another seemed to be squishing Takuya's face, or rather a Koromon was hugging him happily, as the other five discovered after things quietened down a little.

Kouji awoke with the noise as well, though with a scowl on his face. He said something, but whatever it was was lost in the clutter. The Agumon climbed down to the middle, bowing his head at Tomoki and Junpei whom he very nearly trod upon in the process, and stood with his arms folded. He daren't try a warning _Baby Flame _in the small confined space, and yelling was simply of no use at times like these. Although they had terribly long ears, it seemed as though they lost their capacity of hearing.

'Good thing the wind always blows in,' he muttered.

By some miracle, Junpei, almost getting bawled over by two Koromon, heard him. He still had Kouichi's school flute, having picked it up after having stepped on it multiple times (he didn't fancy telling the boy he had broken one of the few things that had survived the earthquake), and while he wasn't a musician, it couldn't be too hard to produce a nice strong whistle.

It wasn't; in fact, it was almost too easy. He managed before even trying, however it worked well enough and the Koromon meekly settled down.

One opened his mouth for a question, but the Agumon quickly ordered them back down, climbing out first. The Koromon followed one by one, helped down, until the humans only remained in their cave.

The first thing Kouji did was check on his brother, and then round on him.

'What was that about?' he exclaimed.

'The Koromon?' Kouichi asked, bemused. 'Not sure, but there seems to be some sort of danger through the night.'

'No, not the Koromon.' At that point, it seemed as though Kouji couldn't care less about the over-excited bundles of energy. 'Your D-scanner, and all that yellow…' He floundered around for a moment, looking for a word. 'Stuff,' he said finally.

'Not much better than thingy,' Takuya commented, before clapping the elder twin on the back, as best he could in the defined space. 'But you did give us a scare buddy?'

'I did?' Kouichi honestly couldn't remember doing anything that would scare anyone, unless… 'Did I pass out?'

Tomoki bobbed his head.

The elder twin groaned inwardly, rubbing his temples. 'That explains it; I've got no idea what happened after all those pieces began spitting electricity until I woke up a little while ago and talked to the Agumon a bit.' Except for his dream, naturally, but he had enough crazy dreams without burdening others with them.

'In a nutshell, your D-scanner mended itself, began spitting out more of that yellow stuff – which can't be electricity by the way because we all got zapped by it but only felt tingles – and woke up here some time in the afternoon,' Junpei explained, before amending: 'well, more like the grassy area above the over Cliffside, but we came down to the village and found it abandoned and then stuck ourselves in the cave before waking up to find these Koromon jumping around like anything.'

'They hide here every night,' Kouichi replied, thankful he was a little well informed in that area at least. 'But whatever comes by night must be very quiet, because I was awake before dawn and didn't hear a thing.'

'Well, we'll just have to find out what it is then,' Takuya said, while the others mulled the little tidbit of information in their heads.

'Are you daft,' Izumi snapped. 'And what could we do? Outrun them?'

'That's your forte,' Takuya shot back, sounding invigorated with adventure over the horizon.

'Don't be an idiot Takuya,' Kouji interrupted, before Izumi could take offense to the jibe against her competitive running. 'We'd need our spirits to survive in the Digital World; you know that.'

'Well, we should look for those first then,' Takuya stubbornly replied. 'Either they're at the castles with the Angels or they're back where they were first hidden. Can't be too hard to find.'

_They could be,_ Kouji thought. _And quite frankly I don't want an adventure right now._ But he didn't say that out loud.

'How about we just go down,' Junpei suggested. 'See what that Agumon and those Koromon have to say. Can't hurt to get more information.'

Everyone agreed and slowly made their way down.

Kouji hung back, watching to make sure his brother didn't slip down. He didn't, helping Tomoki down instead and then waiting for Junpei. Izumi, naturally still in a skirt (which she was cursing at now), went down first, with Takuya right above her. The climb was easier for the humans as their longer bodies made the distance seem shorter, but harder because the notches in the wall were too small to be of help. Still, they pretty much just jumped down; climbing up had been a little more difficult, but they boosted each other and made it possible.

Kouji stopped his brother before he could go down.

'Wait a sec.'

Kouichi turned around, having a feeling what his brother wanted. 'I'm fine,' he said. 'Really; I've got no idea why I passed out, but I'm feeling perfectly okay now.'

'Are you sure?'

The elder twin sighed and just looked at his brother.

'Fine.' Kouji sighed too. 'But I wish I knew what happened.'

'You get by not knowing how the world works,' Kouichi pointed out, relatively unfazed. He went through quite a bit of life not knowing what was happening, so passing out for no reason seemed like a minor issue. 'But –' He suddenly stopped, patting his pockets. 'Where's my D-scanner?'

Kouji stared blankly at him. 'You were holding it before,' he said, before realising he hadn't actually seen it since they entered the Digital World. 'At your place you were,' he amended. 'You don't think it's still back in our world?'

It might have been, seeing as none of their D-scanners had reformed on the trip.

'It might be,' Kouichi agreed, though its absence did make him feel rather uncomfortable, particularly since he had almost lost it now.

Kouji looked as his brother, before blurting out (with as much dignity as he could manage): 'Why didn't you mention it?'

There were times where Kouichi really didn't like his brother's questions, and this was one of them. 'Let's go down,' he said instead. 'The others are probably wondering what's taking us so long, and I'm getting cramped.'

Seeing as neither of them could sit straight, it was probably a fair excuse. Still, the attempt to avoid the topic was widely transparent, but before Kouji could call his brother out on it, the other had managed to manoeuvre himself to the hole and squeeze out.

* * *

Kouji was still eyeing his brother when Junpei spoke up. 'Sorry?' he asked. 'I wasn't listening.'

'I asked where exactly you found your beast spirit,' Junpei repeated, looking away from the stone he had been examining. 'It was in one of those status, right?'

He pointed at the face of the cliff, though some of the "statues" he meant were actually deformities in the wall with little meaning, judging from how they had looked in their last visit.

Second last visit really, because the last time, there had been a lot of damage from Rhodoknightmon's henchmen in trying to find the digi-code.

'Yeah, it was.' The younger twin shook his head, trying to get himself back to the subject at hand. 'You think it's still there?'

The others shrugged, and Kouji rolled his eyes at them. 'Some help you lot are,' he muttered, before taking a few steps forward for a closer look. 'I guess I'll have to climb all the way up there and see.'

'Need a boost?' Takuya looked entirely too happy with the whole situation. 'See if you can find the Gotsumon while you're at it.'

'Yeah, yeah.' Kouji wasn't about to deny the boost, despite his semblance of pride wanting to. He had after all flown halfway up after getting pummelled by the beast-warrior of earth, so the boost would be a welcome change.

After a false start, he was scrambling slowly and carefully up, speed sacrificed by way of caution. The stone was solid enough, but the outermost surface was brittle and falling away under his fingertips to give way to a darker finish, and while it seemed sturdy he would rather not go slipping down on the sharp edges. The wind whistled in his ears, nudging the exposed skin on his face, hands and neck with playful pricks. It reminded him of his stepmother's roses when pruning them towards the end of Autumn. The breezes they got made the thorns graze any hand that tried to cut them down to size, but leaving their roses to wilt was a waste and detrimental to the bush's health. The end result was stubble to grow back in spring, but the bloom of colours towards summer was enough to make it all worthwhile for a garden lover or a passerby.

Kouji was neither really, but he liked his peace as much as the next guy, and was content enough. So long as he didn't need bandaids for the cuts.

He climbed higher, stopping only when he reached the third eye of the statue…or the place it should have been. The socket was noticeable close up, but empty. The symbol for the spirits of light had disappeared too, worn away into the stone.

There was only a little bed of moss growing. Not the moss from the Dark Continent, but rather one reminiscent of their own world. A sign of nature overpowering the man-made. Or maybe it was just abandonment and neglect.

He turned carefully, looking out into the horizon. He found the cliff they had slid down easily enough, although there was nothing remarkable about its appearance. He spotted a canyon too, seeming relatively unchanged but with no sign of a Gostumon to be found. He wasn't surprised though; they had the ability to merge with rocky surroundings after all. Gotsumon had protected him like that once after all.

Still, he looked carefully, searching for any sign of life. He saw nothing. No glint of light from a scope or a jewel or an eye. No scrap of food or cloth left to mark a presense.

He could see the Koromon and Agumon, now looking far more in number and chatting anxiously. Occasionally, an orange paw pointed themselves in the general direction of the six children, and Kouji surmised that they were being talked about. The Koromon on the other hand were a little more on the wild side, bounding around and being continuously scolded, until one Agumon broke away from the rest and pointed to a flat stretch of stone.

The sound of some sort of story reached his ears and he half-smiled. Imagine children being able to settle down so early in the morning with a bedtime story.

Then he shook his head and began the slow climb down. He had really only learnt one thing; that his beast spirit wasn't at its original resting place.

* * *

Junpei was getting somewhat ansty, watching the Agumon from their cave (or the cave they had all temporarily shared) continuously point at them. Takuya seemed a little bored, standing around in the sun, and Izumi was pacing. Cramps were the excuse, but Junpei imagined she was a little nervous too. If the Agumon attacked, they could have some trouble. While Child attacks were generally not fatal, they were, unlike Fresh and Baby attacks, damaging and possibly permanently so. It was, overall, reckless for Kouji to leave himself so exposed as he had in his climb, but none of them had considered that while one Agumon accepted their presence, the rest of the clan might not.

Tomoki had taken his hat off and was now looking between it and the group of Koromon. It might have been amusing to see if the others weren't so anxious. Kouichi looked as though he wanted to fiddle with something, simply lacking the something to fiddle around with.

Which reminded Junpei…

He quickly pulled out the music flute from his pocket. 'Here,' he said, offering it to the elder twin.

Kouichi stared at it blankly.

'I think it's yours,' the eldest of the brunets said. 'I kind of stepped on it back at your place, and somehow it followed us to the Digital World.'

'Arigato.' Kouichi took it, still with some surprise, before turning it over in his hands. It did look like his, every mark from when it would always slip from his fingers and land awkwardly when he was first learning to play.

'I hope I didn't break it,' Junpei said, looking somewhat ashamed. While he had lost quite a bit of weight since his first trip to the Digital World, he was still known for having quite a firm grip and step and had accidentally broken many a thing as a result.

'I don't think so.' But he wouldn't know until he played it, and so Kouichi raised it to his lips, blowing gently. A tune came easily enough; he had been practising not long before (as far as his consciousness went) after all, and the notes tumbled smoothly off his lips and fingers.

The Agumon, having finally finished their discussion – or argument – and stopped on their way over at the sound of the song. It was quieter than the storyteller, who paused in the middle of his own story as he noticed the Koromon's attention drawn away. One drifted away from the pack to come nearer, and then another. Soon, a third came along and their huddle became skewered.

Kouji's eyes flickered down from above to find the cause of the music, and then he continued carefully down. Izumi stopped pacing, looking curiously at the elder twin instead. Junpei's eyes flickered towards the Koromons' increasing proximity and the Agumon carefully watching them. They seemed at peace though, and Kouichi really was good at his music. Especially since he was playing from memory.

All notes from memory tested, Kouichi stopped playing and took a deep breath, before eyes jumping open at the sound of groans of disappointment.

'More?' the Koromon pleaded. 'Please?'

Tomoki giggled; Kouichi looked, embarrassed at the large audience, between the Koromon and their Guardians.

One Agumon, the oldest and the tallest of them all, smiled at him. White teeth peeked out, but not in a menacing way. 'Please,' it – or rather she from the female voice, said. 'A novelty is always pleasing to the Koromon, and they don't get many treats in this day and age. And we're safe enough.'

'Meaning?' Kouji had joined them on the ground again, one hand on his brother's to stop the other from raising his flute…not that he had made a move to do so.

'Danger comes by night,' the female Agumon explained. 'By day were are relatively safe, but if we leave a mark of our presence the night's danger will not stop until it finds the source. Sound is one thing that the wind protects by the sun, but no minstrels come this way any more.' She paused, looking at the children. 'But you want to know the full story, yes?'

At a few nods, she folded her arms. 'I would have no problem in helping the Legendary Warriors,' she said finally. 'But disturbing rumours have reached us, saying that they are not the only humans to be able to enter our world and remain. Whispers of humans in the mountain near here, in the lake on the other side…and no information at all as to who they are or what they are doing. And their appearances coincided with our recently acquired hunter.'

'Hold on,' Kouichi said suddenly, and the others looked at him in surprise. 'None of us mentioned being the Legendary Warriors.'

'That is correct.' This time, the female Agumon sounded amused. 'I believe you yourself dodged the unasked question, but that is immaterial.' She beckoned to another Agumon, who brought forth a familiar piece of machinery.

Another gesture, and the other Agumon began his tale. 'You see, I saw your arrival, and we hid in case you were all digimon ready to attack…or victims of an attack, for the trouble would have no doubt come to us next in that case.' He pointed at the Cliffside, and five nods confirmed it. 'I also saw this device fall from the cliff-side as soon as you landed. It definitely wasn't in the sky when you fell, which meant one of you must have been holding it. Later, when I passed by the area to cover all the tracks, I picked it up again and recognised it. At that point, I realised you were humans and not Digimon, but the fast approaching dusk prevented me from mentioning it to the Elder, and my brethren was most surprised to discover you all in his usual hiding place.'

The female Agumon, now identified as the elder, continued. 'We know that only a Chosen Child can use a Digivice,' she said. 'It is one of the oldest laws of nature in our world. So you see, whether one of you is a Legendary Warrior or not is very easy to check. Whoever owns this simply has to use it and prove it functional in your hands.'

'And if none of you are capable, or you try and trick or attack us,' another Agumon growled, 'we are confident in our ability to handle six measly humans.'

'Measly?' Takuya exclaimed, before frowning. 'Hang on, by handle, do you mean -?' He gulped as the Agumon extended their claws. 'Oh.'

'Way to go,' Izumi hissed under her breath, but the Agumon didn't look any more or less hostile than before.

'You did prove yourselves to not be of evil will,' the female Agumon attempted to placate. 'After all, one of you woke before us, and it could have been a simple matter of disposing of our children, and I'm afraid to say that with our numbers so stretched, one Agumon cramped in a cave is nowhere near equal to several in a clearing like this. Before that, we took a risk…and it payed off, for much would have been sacrificed if it had not.'

Kouichi blinked, but said nothing, simply looking at his D-scanner. It was, as the others had said, looking as though it were brand new, screen currently dormant but smooth and whole. The others were a little confused as well, but all wisely kept their silence. Their name would be proven soon enough. None of them considered the possibility that the D-scanner no longer worked, for it had brought them to the Digital World, and surely that was proof enough.


End file.
